UW requires civil rights training after federal antisemitism probe

University of Washington staff and students are required to take a new civil rights training as part of a voluntary agreement with the federal government after allegations of unchecked antisemitism on campus in 2023 and 2024.

The university is one of several nationwide that have agreed to mandate campuswide civil rights training in response to federal investigations into discrimination, especially antisemitism.

James D. Long, a UW political science professor, said he wishes the school had offered such training sooner. Long said he's familiarized himself with local, state, and federal civil rights law, but knows not everyone on campus has, especially when it comes to legal nuances.

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The new staff training is broad in scope, and includes antisemitism alongside many other forms of illegal discrimination, including discrimination based on age, gender, and sexual orientation.

Along with explicit harassment, it explores less obvious forms of potential discrimination — like political speech that feels hostile to someone in a protected group.

Federal discrimination complaints of antisemitism spiked during campus protests against the war in Gaza, at the UW and other schools nationwide. In the spring of 2024, pro-Palestinian activists camped for weeks on the UW quad, calling for the university to cut ties with Israel.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights launched dozens of antisemitism investigations at UW and other universities after some students said the schools let pro-Palestinian demonstrations devolve into anti-Jewish harassment.

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At the UW, some students said the protests created a hostile environment for Jews on campus, including anti-Zionist graffiti, and reported finding swastikas in dormitories.

Muslim students reported harassment, too.

Professor Long said he’s glad that the training includes how civil rights law protects free speech on campus, as well as that free speech cannot cross certain boundaries.

“There could be a situation where the encampment disrupts other people's learning. This has not been talked about enough recently, not just at UW, but bigger picture," Long said.

Although federal antisemitism investigations of colleges have dramatically increased under the second Trump presidency, the UW came under scrutiny during the Biden administration.

The university acknowledged no wrongdoing. But it agreed to revamp its civil rights practices, including making it easier to report suspected violations, and requiring this new training for staff and students.

Graham Wright, who studies antisemitism on college campuses at Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, said his national research shows that a relatively small number of students and staff are responsible for the majority of overt antisemitic harassment.

“If your entire university was punished because of what a small number of students or faculty said, one of the dangers of this is it could reinforce antisemitic conspiracy theories about the secret Jewish power," Wright said. "So it could actually make things worse.”

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Wright says he's found that students’ perception of antisemitism includes both overt discrimination — like bigoted remarks — and alienation, if they have emotional connections to Israel, regardless of their feelings about the Israeli government.

It’s problematic to frame pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist protests as antisemitic, said Dan Berger, a member of the UW Jewish Alliance, which is critical of the Israeli government.

“There's a very cynical and very dangerous use of antisemitism as a kind of political football to achieve reactionary ends that we are fundamentally opposed to,” Berger said.

Professor Long said he can see potential drawbacks of UW’s new civil rights training, too.

“I think there can be a demotivating effect on people — like, all I do is get inundated with information like this, that I'm just going to become completely disengaged,” he said.

Long said it could also lead to people over-reporting potential civil rights violations.

UW staff, which includes KUOW employees, are required to complete the civil rights course by March 10. The training for UW students is slated to launch within the next few months.